Yomi's Memorial and Sakura's Birth
by smileyjill2002
Summary: Yomi, Kurama's eternal friend is remembered and Sakura Minamino, daughter of Kurama and Shizuru, is going to be making her debut.
1. Default Chapter

Shizuru looked towards her husband's face, straightening the collar of his black tux. Tears glistened in his jade eyes like clear crystals, moistening his soft cheeks. "Kurama are you going to be okay?" He gazed into her coffee eyes.

He opened his mouth to speak, only to have his voice fail him. All he could do was attempt a half-hearted nod. "I miss Yomi, I wish he was still...was still alive." He covered his eyes with his right hand. Shizuru caressed him in her arms, wrapping her arms around his back and head. The bodice of her black maternity dress became damp by the warm rainfall from his eyes.

"Do you want to cancel today? If you don't feel up to it."

"I want to do this for him," he whispered, his voice hampered by the tears, "This service will be good for his memory; its my way of honoring him."

"But surely you can ask Ashanti to speak for you, conduct the eulogy for you," Shizuru suggested, "I just hate seeing you this way, in such pain. I couldn't do it. If this was my best friend, I would be too torn up to speak for them, I'd ask someone else to do it for me."

"But I must do this. He would do the same for me. If I had gotten there in time, I could have protected him from Dakota's claw. Then he wouldn't be dead."

"Sometimes things happen that are out of our hands. You did the best you could. I understand how you feel, but filling your head with what ifs and maybes doesn't do you or Yomi any good. All that does is cause you more pain."

"Then I wish to trade places with Yomi. He didn't deserve to die." His tears fell as hard as a torrential downpour, to the sound of his own words.

"Nobody deserves to die, but it happens. That is the way life is," the tears flowed this time from her eyes, "Why would you want to be dead? I couldn't go on without you. We have been through too much for me to give up on you, please don't give up on me."

He brushed the tears from his eyes and looked at her. "I'm sorry I said that. I guess Yomi's passing has hit me so hard; nothing makes sense anymore. My thoughts are broken and so is my heart."

"I understand, and I will be by your side through this," Shizuru confirmed.

The couples' moment of condolence suddenly became interrupted by a strong tug on Kurama's left pants leg. He peered down to see Saito crossing his legs and grabbing at his crotch.

"What's the matter, young man?" he chuckled, "You have to go potty?" The little boy nodded his head.

"Do you want me to take him? Give you a chance to go over your speech?" offered Shizuru.

"Nah, I'll take him," insisted Kurama, "You go lie down, take it easy for awhile." He hoisted the child onto his hip and carried him to the guest bathroom. There he proceeded to kneel down on the black tile floor.

As he was removing Saito's pants and training pants, Kurama heard a voice behind him say, "So this is what the great youko is reduced to, bowing to a kid's needs."

Ignoring the voice, he positioned a makeshift stepladder to the toilet bowl. "Can you climb up here and sit, please?" The toddler crawled up the little ladder and peered into the bowl with a worried look on his face.

"Bih po-ee, Da-ee."

"It is a big potty, its not like the one at home. But I am going to be right here so you won't fall in, okay. Can you sit for me, like a big boy?"

Saito nodded his head really big, and sat himself over the rim of the bowl; his father used his arms like a brace for the boy.

"Kurama, I am not going to be used to that word. That word father or daddy, I still can't grasp you as one," Hiei commented, as he heard Saito start to tinkle.

"You had better get used to it, now that I have two children," he chuckled back at his demon friend.

"An I it up ow?"

"I don't if you can get up now or not, sir. Has that water stuff stopped coming out?" Kurama asked him, still hearing him tinkle and seeing the water stuff still coming. "Nope, you need to sit still until all that water stuff has stopped coming out. You will know when you stop hearing that sound. It won't be for very long unless you had a lot to drink." "How much did he have?"

"I think Shura gave him a full glass of apple juice," guessed Hiei.

"A full glass? No wonder he had to go so bad. I am surprised he didn't have an accident on the way to the bathroom. Usually Shiz and I give him half a cup."

"Sorry about that, I don't anything about taking care of kids. I am a fire demon not a babysitter," snorted Hiei.

"I am not mad at you. He is 21 months old, and we are toilet training him now. His pediatrician said he is old enough to start that. We still use diapers at night, otherwise he will wet the bed." "You are not the only one who is learning how to watch a kid. The other night Yumi, Shizuru's mother, gave him a full glass of Sprite. Later on he had to pee real bad. She was taking him to the bathroom, but he didn't make it. He ended up staining his pants in the middle of the hallway rug. Took us all night to get that stain up."

Hiei flew into a chortle upon hearing this story. "I don't mean to laugh. It must be hard for you."

"Are you kidding? After he went to bed and while we were cleaning the rug, we were all laughing about it. I laughed so hard, I almost peed my pants too."

"Da-ee, wah-wu stu gone."

"Really, let me check. Ahh, all gone. No more water stuff."

"Why do you have to check him?" Hiei snorted, "I'd think that would be undignified for a demon of your status. A high ranked youko like you checking his kid like that."

"You remember earlier when he asked to get up and I told him no, he has started that habit. When we began him on this, first he would ask to go potty. Since she is having a hard enough time getting around because she is at full term, I have taken full responsibility on this. We have this ritual when I take his pants and training pants off, and he goes and sits on his little plastic potty. About two seconds of going, he says, 'O'ay I done.' Then he stands up and makes a huge puddle on the bathroom floor. Now I have to stay by him the whole time and make sure once he sits down that he stays seated until I know he has stopped."

Kurama knelt down to Saito, "Hey bud, you have to go poo too?" The child shook his head continuously until he became dizzy. "Okay, can you stand up for me?" The boy obeyed his father's request. Kurama pulled a small bag of wet wipes from his pants pocket. "This is how we keep things nice and clean so no nasty germs can get to him," he said as he washed Saito's parts. As soon as he finished that, he quickly redressed Saito. "I think we are almost done here."

"Really, what time is it?" questioned Hiei.

The red-haired man looked at his watch. "It's almost noon, about fifteen 'til. The memorial service doesn't start until 12:30." "Could you take him into the kitchen and wash his hands for me?"

"Of course, what are you going to do?"

"I want to check in on Shiz, see how she is doing. First thing though, all this bathroom talk is making me have to go." Hiei slid the door close and walked Saito down the hallway towards the kitchen.

Five minutes later, Kurama emerged from the bathroom and entered the guest room, where he saw his wife asleep on the bed. "Hey," she yawned, "how did everything go?"

"He was an angel. Saito did what he was supposed to, and he didn't get up once."

"He's a good boy, might want to give him a reward later."

"So how are you? How are you feeling?"

Shizuru smiled, "I'm doing fine...oof." She suddenly began clenching her teeth.

"Are you alright, darling? Is it time?" he worried.

After a couple minutes her pain subsided, once again she felt relaxed. "Naw, I'm fine. That was just a contraction; it has been six hours since the last one. The first time was at 6:00 this morning when my bladder woke me up. While I was in the shower, killing two birds with one stone, it happened. That one only lasted a few minutes too." She glanced at the clock beside the bed. "It's noon. About time for us to leave, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah I guess," he sighed, feeling a bit depressed. Shizuru noticed the sadness still clinging to his eyes and voice.

"Could you help me up, please?" she requested, holding her arms up, diagonally.

"Yes, of course, anything for you, my queen," he smirked, trying to shake off his mood. He helped her onto her feet, walking her to an awaiting wheelchair beside their door. "Do you have to go before we leave?" he asked as they passed by the bathroom.

"Yeah, I am going to take that opportunity now. I know once we are out at Yomi's tomb, there will be no place to go."

Kurama turned his back, blocking the doorway with his body.

"What's taking you so long?" asked Hiei impatiently, as he stepped into the hallway, "I have your son in your car all buckled and ready to go."

"She needed to use the bathroom."

"Again? But that was like two hours ago. Isn't this like her sixth trip?"

"She's nine months pregnant, Sakura is almost here. This is the same thing that was going on during Saito's birth. Relax; it won't take her very long. In fact..."

"I am ready to go," she interrupted, as she climbed back into the wheelchair.

Kurama rolled his wife down the hallway and out the front entrance of his friend's cavern house. Under the shade of a Japanese cedar, Shizuru's red Honda greeted him. He opened the front passenger door, escorting her into the seat. Once she was inside, he took the chair, folded it in half lengthwise, and mounted it on the back of the car. Then Kurama himself took his position in the driver's seat.

The drive took them fifteen minutes to get from Hiei's place to the tomb site. The site itself was in a string of limestone caverns, at the base of a mountain range. Outside the mouth of one of the caves, stood a group of Yomi's closest friends. Among the group, Mukuro, who was dressed in her finest black dress, Kurama's twin brother Ashanti was adorned in his finest white tunic, both the Urameshis and Shizuru's brother had drove in that morning in Yusuke's white Toyota.

As the Honda pulled up, Kurama noticed Megumi wasn't anywhere around. "Hey, man, where is your little girl? Saito has been sort of anxious to play with her."

"Megumi is not feeling well. She was throwing up all night last night," sighed Yusuke, "My mother is taking care of her."

"I'm sorry to hear that, what's wrong with her?" Kurama asked in deep concern.

"I think she caught that stomach flu that has been going around. Her teacher at preschool said there was a boy in her class that had it, he wasn't able to venture far from the bathroom."

"Ugh, glad you kept her away then. That is the last thing we need. Shizuru is about to go anytime now, she doesn't need to get sick."

"You might want to stay away from us then too, incase we caught it," warned Yusuke.

"I will, thanks for the warning." Kurama turned to his wife and passengers. "Are you ready to get started?"

"Thought you'd never ask, I thought we were going to conduct the ceremony inside this car," smarted Shizuru.

As the Minaminos piled out of the car, Saito spotted Kazuma. "Unca Kuma!" he shouted in excitement.

"Hey buddy, what's up? How are you doing?" he asked, kneeling down to his nephew.

"E wen ride in caw."

"Oh I see, all by yourself?" Kazuma joked.

"No," Saito giggled, "Wit Mo-ee an Da-ee."

"Where is Mommy?"

Saito pointed at her, with his arm extended. "She o-ah thew ah caw. Da-ee hel-ee huh ow uh caw."

"She's over by the car. I think I will go say hi to her, maybe help her out or something. Would you like helping her too?" His nephew nodded, leading him over to Shizuru.

"Hey, baby bro, glad to see you here. You didn't even know the guy, but you came anyway."

"I came to support my friends, it's an honorable thing to do. Besides incase my niece comes here, I want to be the first to welcome her, after you of course."


	2. Memories of a Soulmate

Yomi's friends gathered around his tomb. In front of the entrance, a brilliant golden urn had been placed in the arms of an eight-foot tall Buddha statue, with his ashes inside.

Kurama let out a loud cough to grab everyone's attention. From there he started his speech.

"Folks I have a story to tell you about this great demon, Yomi. Something from when I met him, in my younger days, when Ashanti and I were only cubs. One day 325 years ago:

My brother and I were cubs, barely a year old ourselves. We were playing in

the forest, as the light danced across the early autumn sky. Suddenly in a thicket, I stumbled across a pregnant goat demon about to give birth. At the time the Goats and the Foxes were sworn enemies. I watched the doe, as she was trying to push out her baby. 'Young fox, please help me. Please guard me before the rest of your tribe sees me. For they will surely kill my child.' I watched as she delivered the kid. When she realized she gave birth to a son, she cried out, 'Yomi.' From that day, I fell in love with him. Such a beautiful child he was.

He was such a good friend. During the times we were playing together, some stranger gave me a cooked pheasant. I ate it without thinking. After awhile I suddenly felt faint and very sick. He took me to his mother, and she gave me to drink a potion, which made me throw up that bird. It turned out to be poisoned, which she said would have surely killed me had I completely digested it. I owed my life to Yomi and his mother. From that day on I would protect Yomi.

Several years passed, and he, Ashanti, and I formed our own tribe, along with a few other animals from the area. Those in our pack were each adorn with white tunics and pants, to make us unique to other tribes throughout the entire Makai world. Our mission was simple, to go out and pillage from palaces and bring back the gold that belonged to the land in the first place, which the humans stole from us. The Youko Tribe was a well-known tribe for decades and centuries. One year about a hundred years after I met Yomi, the tribe was under attack by a rival tribe from the Ice World. That tribe wanted the treasures we worked so hard for to gather, for themselves. The leader of the Ice World tribe was that fire demon. In the beginning, Hiei was my bitter enemy. So bitter that I once heard he sought to kill Yomi. At the time he only had two eyes, but he was still very dangerous. I found this out one night, on a raid. Yomi's girlfriend, Shasta, a female goat demon, was slain by Hiei himself. A note attached to her body read, 'You're next, Goat Boy!'

The next night, he did come after our tribe. We were surrounded by the demons from the Ice World, each armed with knives and swords. The Youko Tribe always made it a habit to make weapons out of our environment. Every plant in the hands of an animal demon can become a weapon. Unfortunately, this battle was taking place in the dead of winter; the plants we desired were nowhere to be found. Time was running out and each animal was at the mercy of a sharp sword. Then it was Yomi who spotted it, a single red rose poking out from the frozen ground. He handed the rose over to me, preparing to sacrifice his own life for mine. I took the flower in my hands. At that moment I felt my energy envelop the rose and transform it into a huge vine. I learned by twirling it like a whip, the thorns could slice through solid matter, including metal swords. Soon the Ice World tribe was without weapons, after the whip had sliced through their offense. It then became our turn to fight back our foes. Once again it was really Yomi who saved us that day. Had he not found that one tiny rose, Hiei's tribe would have killed us all for sure.

Only one time he did betray me. Yomi always had a problem with reacting on instinct, rather than intelligence. We were on a raid in the mountains. Instead of following orders from me, he chose to disobey and go with his own agenda. As punishment I sent an assassin to kill him. The assassin instead blinded him and ended up dead instead. After that moment Yomi and I split up and went our separate ways. It wasn't until seven years ago that I met up with him again. We made our amends at that time after the first Makai Tournament ended. After that it became a joy for me to see him.

I don't know where I would be right now if I never met him. It was because of him, my life was spared. During our fight with Ani's group, I know it was him that got between the temple where Shizuru, Keiko, and the babies were and Dakota the wolf. He saved their lives at the cost of his own. He died to protect my wife and my son, when I could not. Yomi...I loved you. Thank you broth...broth...er."

Kurama collapsed to the ground in front of the statue, with tears flooding his eyes. His head bowed in homage before the urn in the Buddha's arms. "Why though, Yomi, why did you have to leave?" Mukuro knelt on the ground in front of him. She spoke no words, but wrapped her arms around him. She moved him away from the tomb, shielding his face from the rest of his friends. Once away she allowed him to weep profusely in her arms.

Saito asked his mother as he was sitting on her lap, "Wha won wih Da-ee? Why e cawy-ee?"

"His best friend went away, and he is sad."

"Wih e com bah?"

Shizuru shook her head, holding her son close. "No, baby, he can't come back, that's why Daddy's sad." Tears poured her cheeks, as she felt the pain of her husband's broken heart.


	3. Birth of Sakura Minamino

While she was crying for her husband's great loss, Shizuru suddenly felt a sharp pain. Her brother, who was standing next to her, saw her clenching her teeth hard. "Sis, what's wrong? Do you miss Yomi that much? You barely even knew him."

"It's not that Kazuma, I think it's time," cringed Shizuru through the pain.

"Here? Now?"

"Saito could you please get Daddy for me?" she asked him.

The child sprang off of his mother's lap and dashed towards his father. "Da-ee, Da-ee," he shouted, pulling at Kurama's pants leg.

"What's wrong, Saito?" he asked, brushing the tears from his eyes.

"Mo-ee sic."

"She is?" Kurama gazed up at his wife. When he did, he quickly dashed to her side. "Honey, are you all right?"

"No, I think... yep it did. My water just broke."

"Let me check you, Shiz." Kurama stuck his head under her dress.

"What are you, Kurama-dear? A doctor or something?" questioned Mukuro.

"Yes he is," Shizuru confirmed, while clenching her teeth, "He just became one back in May."

"Well it is true, you have broken water and you are at two centimeters."

"She has time to find a place, right?" asked Hiei.

"Not really, with our first pregnancy, she went fast. And judging by her progress now, this baby wants out now. Time is against us."

"My place is fifteen minutes away. She can have it there," offered Hiei.

"No that's too late, my daughter will be here by then."

"Darn, and my lair is in the same area as his," pondered Mukuro.

"Hey brother, why not in here?" suggested Ashanti.

"Inside the tomb? Why there?" questioned Kurama, "But this is a place of mourning."

"Yoko Kurama," insisted his brother, "that is exactly why you should have the child in there. Besides it would make Yomi happy if you chose his tomb. In fact it would honor him. What a better way to leave this existence, than to bring about new life from it."

The group raced into the tomb's entrance behind the statue. Inside they spotted a beautiful cot, lined with the finest cloth. The mattress was stuffed with foam, and covered in blue silk sheets.

Kurama carried his wife into the tomb and placed her upon the cot. He tied each of her feet to the posts at the end of the cot; enabling her to spread her legs apart. Once again he checked her. "Okay, now you are at five centimeters."

"I am, she is coming out quicker than Saito did," she tried to joke, breathing through her pain.

"Mukuro, could you get me a cloth or something to put under her. Hiei, go back to the car and find my sterile powder gloves. They are on the dashboard."

Hiei dashed out of the tomb, like lightning, he zipped back into the tomb with the gloves. Kurama covered his hands with the gloves. "Okay now Shiz, you are fully dilated. When you are ready, you can push."

"Can I help?" came a familiar whisper in his ear.

"Sure you can coach her, Yomi."

His eyes widened to hear his voice again. To say his name shocked his ears. "Yomi, you are alive? You can't be." Seeing his old friend standing in front of him.

"I am not alive. You are seeing my soul. I have only come back to help you deliver your child, the same way you were there at my birth and to see you one more time. I never like to leave my friends without saying goodbye to them myself. And by what you said about me, I may be here for awhile."

Tears rolled Kurama's cheeks, hearing him say that.

"Can you boys talk later? Sakura will be out before you're done," Shiz smarted.

Yomi knelt down beside her, holding her hand. Shizuru squinted her eyes, as she started to push. Yomi counted to ten as her husband readied himself to help her push the child out.

"Come on... come on," encouraged Yomi, "you can do it, girl. Okay breath."

"Babe, you are doing fine, I can see her head. It's red like mine."

"She has your hair already?" the child's mother asked.

Shizuru squinted once again and started to push again. Yomi continued the ten-count.

"Come on, she is almost out."

"Wow that's a lot of blood!" commented Hiei.

"That is normal, women giving birth usually lose some amount of blood. I had one woman pee on me in one of my classes trying to get her baby out. That is one reason I wear sterile gloves when I work."

Kurama glanced at the child, seeing her mostly out. "I think one more big push ought to do it. Can you do it?"

Shizuru nodded her head, while squinting her eyes. She continued to push, as Yomi continued to count. Suddenly, she felt Sakura drop from her body. At first she didn't hear the baby and started to worry. "Is she okay?" she wondered. Then her fears subsided to hear her daughter's cry echo through the cavern, like an angel's song. Yomi glanced at the baby in her father's arms. He felt as if he wanted to cry, though his soul wouldn't allow him tears.

"This birth, Yomi, reminds me of the first one I saw. The first day I met you. I loved you from the start. You were like my little brother. This moment almost feels like de ja vu. The days after when we played together. Those days I will never forget. Just like this day, I will always remember."

Yomi knelt to the floor of the tomb. With his outstretched left arm, he held at his fingertips his best friend's face. Words failed Kurama; instead the poor old fox couldn't contain the ache in his heart any longer. His chin quivered with a sizable lump in his throat. As he peered into Yomi's eyes, the tears from his jade eyes dribbled down his face and dripped onto Yomi's fingers.

"Yoko, I remember those days. They seem to last forever. Every night I dreamt of our youth. You will always be my best friend. Ashanti was right, I was so happy to be there for your daughter's birthday. Maybe Kurama this is the way it was meant to be. By coming to my tomb, you let me see such a miracle. I wanted to be there for you when your baby was born, the same way you were there for my mother, the day of my birth. But don't think because I am gone, that won't stop thinking of you. I will be there for you in your dreams and in your heart. Believe me I will never abandon you, I can never leave someone I have loved my whole life. It hurts too much to say goodbye now, especially seeing you this way. Until you are able to let me go, I will remain with you. Just like before when we went our separate ways. Except then we broke up the friendship out of anger. This time when we separate, please do me a favor, no tears."

Kurama bit as hard as he could on his lower lip. His friend's words only made him cry harder. Then he replied, "When we separate again, I don't know if I can guarantee you no tears. You are my best friend. I have known you forever. I will always love you. Because Yoko Yomi, you are my brother too." Kurama placed his daughter into Shizuru's arms, so as to revert to his original form. The Youko continued to weep, seeing Yomi before him. Quickly, Yomi wrapped his arms around the broken-hearted fox, hugging him for the longest time.


End file.
